Is a change beginning to happen regarding schools?

[Covidfears]

I’ve been noticing more articles lately in the mainstream press about the difficulties in schools (which will come as no surprise to most people). There’s also been some research which has basically confirmed that schools are driving infections. So, along with it looking like this lockdown has been a waste of time (due to schools being kept open to continue the spread) and people in power calling for Hull schools to be closed do we think that schools will be closing early for Christmas?

Is there any chance that blended learning or rotas will be coming in after the Christmas holidays?

We are a vulnerable family with children in primary school and the risk that sending them every day with no safety measures poses to our family is causing me huge amounts of stress.

But let’s not pretend that children in the poorest areas of the country haven’t been failed enormously by this crap back to school plan cooked up by U4T. All they ever cared about were their own kids.

Absolutely! Add to that a big slosh of inability to reason and a large chunk of just plain don't understand, and that's pretty much the top and bottom of that group.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9 I've taken your advice and emailed my MP this evening asking that he write to the education secretary on my behalf. I live in a Labour constituency so doubt he'll have much clout with this shitshow of a government but anything is worth a try at this point. The secondary schools are at breaking point in my area (high infections). It's a mess.

@YellowPostItPad

Interestingly my friend's secondary school is "not closed" but is "shut to all year groups" for 2 weeks. They have had a very large number of cases but Public Health England have not closed it. They had to limp on with 45 teachers off (mostly self-isolating) and 400 odd kids off. It's not schools themselves who make the decision to close but the government (Public Health England). I wonder how many other secondary schools are not closed but also not open? Makes the government statistics look better than they actually are...

Schools can make the decision to shut on safety grounds.

It is ridiculous to say a school shut to all year groups is open though- is the distinction that staff can be onsite if they want?

@BelleSausage, great posts👏👏👏

My DC school is very good in taking the action it needs to if a member of the school community tests positive. They have great communication and transparency with parents. Whenever someone tests positive they send a text home and then take the appropriate steps. However, despite the school being really on it with making it as covid secure as possible, there’s been at least 15 cases there now. Lots of cover lessons going on and bubble being sent home constantly.
Makes me think it’s such a waste of time sending my kids in. My eldest is on the fourth round of isolation. Whenever they are isolating they do zoom lessons. I am staring to think if we just did that on a regular basis rather than send kids in at least they have some consistency.

Brava, BelleSausage.

Hear hear @BelleSausage

@BelleSausage is needing to work to pay for food and a roof over your head a privileged position?! People take jobs and make decisions based on the fact we have a state education system in this country. Then telling people that they ‘need to be responsible for their own kids’ and preventing them for working to pay for food and shelter for their kids - do you not see how that’s a contradiction? Or should we all have planned our lives on the basis that schools might close at some point and you wouldn’t be able to rely on other childcare options?

I forgot to add another thing. My sister’s kids go to a neighbouring school. Same catchment area etc. Her school only send a few kids home that are sat on either side of the child who tests positive.
Also they don’t inform all parents just the ones directly involved. The parents of the children in that school are totally oblivious to the fact that they have just as many positive cases just they are managed differently and therefore they all think that their school’s had 1 or 2 cases only.

But why can you not still go to work with your secondary school child at home?

At the start of this lockdown, I did send my two into primary school, despite being clinically vulnerable. When bubbles started being sent home one was in the closed bubble the other not. For me, it was too close to us as a family so I divided to keep the other child home too. I emailed the school to let them know my decision. The following day I had a TA on the phone thing me I was breaking the law and that no work would be available for the child who's bubble want closed. She would be expected in school the following day as she would be so far behind her class etc. There was no way she was going. Half the school was off because if a possible contact. I was spoken to like dirt by the TA. I was made to feel guilty because I am vulnerable. Two weeks vs a mom dead for all their lives. It's nothing really.
The school have finally posted work for her. Dd has done it all. My dd hates being at school and wants to be homeschooled.

@tappitytaptap

How old is your child?

[quote tappitytaptap]@BelleSausage is needing to work to pay for food and a roof over your head a privileged position?! People take jobs and make decisions based on the fact we have a state education system in this country. Then telling people that they ‘need to be responsible for their own kids’ and preventing them for working to pay for food and shelter for their kids - do you not see how that’s a contradiction? Or should we all have planned our lives on the basis that schools might close at some point and you wouldn’t be able to rely on other childcare options?[/quote]
What about the self employed who haven’t worked in months? Or the waitress and hairdresser? The pub landlord? Maybe they would rather schools closed so they can earn a living too?

Can people see it’s not all about ‘them’? That so many are making sacrifices for schools to remain open - yet schools remaining open are likely to increase the length lockdown and make them redundant?

You make a good point @Kingsley08

People are losing their jobs to keep schools open so parents can work and keep their jobs. Why is one set of jobs more important than another?

Also, why is this the fault of teachers and not the bloody government for not putting something more stable and reliable in place for working parents. The are essentially relying on everyone using all their sick leave and holidays to prop up a failing system!

My DC had a positive Covid test the day after they broke up for half term. That meant their entire Y11 cohort had to isolate for 2 weeks. They have been back in school for 2 weeks (almost) now. In those 2 weeks Y7, Y8 and Y13 have been out. I am now informed that Y10 and part (?) of Y12 have been sent home today.

DC says that there were only themselves and Y9 in school this afternoon. I'm also a teacher (different school) and we've had 4 separate year groups isolating for 14 days so far in the last 6 weeks. I also tested positive for Covid over half term (as did DH) and we've been really poorly with it. I'd be surprised to be back in school before New Year if I'm honest, even though I'd like to be. I'm simply not well enough.

Having checked school email briefly today I see we've had another Year group sent home today after a member of the bubble tested positive. Secondary schools are fucked, frankly.

Secondary schools are fucked, frankly.

Amen to that.

Sorry you are so unwell, Fred, the impact of staff being off long term hasn’t really started to kick in yet, but will become more of a problem.

Another thing the govt overlooked when they decided to send schools back with no protections for teachers.

@BelleSausage
Excellent post 👏🏽

*What about the self employed who haven’t worked in months? Or the waitress and hairdresser? The pub landlord? Maybe they would rather schools closed so they can earn a living too?

Can people see it’s not all about ‘them’? That so many are making sacrifices for schools to remain open - yet schools remaining open are likely to increase the length lockdown and make them redundant?*

This- and parents of young children are not the only people who need to work. Also a lot of people (especially in hospitality) pick up a lot of overtime in the lead up to Christmas, which won't happen if they are on furlough.

A lot of people who work in these industries point out that they were open over the summer and cases didn't rise- it is schools and unis that have made the difference. I don't think this is the only factor (I think weather, time of year, more indoor socialising are also factors) BUT it is worth bearing in mind that this is not a zero sum game in terms of work.

Secondary schools moving to blended learning wouldn't cause childcare issues for many, and might allow some other businesses to get at least a bit of the Christmas trade.

Absolutely, noble.

Apart from wanting to be back to my classes, who I genuinely miss, I'm concerned about dumping extra cover lessons and extra work on colleagues who are already just about on their knees. I'm feeling bad about leaving the sinking ship!

[quote tappitytaptap]@BelleSausage is needing to work to pay for food and a roof over your head a privileged position?! People take jobs and make decisions based on the fact we have a state education system in this country. Then telling people that they ‘need to be responsible for their own kids’ and preventing them for working to pay for food and shelter for their kids - do you not see how that’s a contradiction? Or should we all have planned our lives on the basis that schools might close at some point and you wouldn’t be able to rely on other childcare options?[/quote]
They wouldn’t be preventing people from working though, they would just have to pay for childcare if needed.

Why should those with no children or who don’t need childcare lose their jobs to let others keep something that could be done a differsafer way.

I had an email from the covid app today saying that we don't know about virus transmission in children, which is bad because I'm sure the government's point previously was that we knew children didn't transmit it.

Whenever the government talked about the evidence for children not transmitting, they neglected to mention that ‘children’ meant under 10.

And now secondary schools are fucked because they put no thought into them at all.

Governments all over Europe are prioritising keeping schools open over almost everything else. Is that all the work of Us4Them? Really? Or is it, perhaps, that they do value education and recognise that the harms of closing schools are lot harder for government to fix than the harms of closing almost anything else?

Yes schools need to be as safe as possible, and it’s not feasible to have schools technically ‘open’ with pupils in and out all the time. But this thread is full of such dismissive sneery posts - crying with laughter emojis, ‘parents can’t be bothered to look after their own children’, waving aside any mental health impacts because oh well MY children LOVED lockdown. How’s that helping?

I could afford to take unpaid leave for a little while if my DC’s primary went to ‘blended learning’. It would be hard but I could manage. And my DC are young and doing fine, they’ll be okay anyway. I am still in favour of a functioning state education system, though, because ASTONISHINGLY people value that for reasons other than free childcare.

Schools need to stay open, governments need to fund and resource them appropriately to allow that to safely happen. It’s shit when they’re not doing that, but it’s the fault of the government, not some nut case Facebook campaign group.

Governments all over Europe are prioritising keeping schools open over almost everything else. Is that all the work of Us4Them?

Governments all over Europe are prioritising keeping schools open by funding mitigation measures, mass testing, smaller class sizes etc etc.

England is doing none of that. It says it prioritises keeping schools open and that is all the action it has taken. It had to be reminded about masks in schools in lockdown areas. It has abandoned its own Plan B for rotas in badly affected areas.

Obviously it’s probably because they’re shit-for-brain bastards all by themselves, but it certainly looks a lot like what Us4Them were demanding.

Schools need to stay open, governments need to fund and resource them appropriately to allow that to safely happen
They aren’t going to do that. This has been made abundantly clear.

It’s shit when they’re not doing that
And it’s not ok just to press on regardless. It just isn’t - it’s fast sliding towards total chaos.

but it’s the fault of the government

It is.

not some nut case Facebook campaign group

You’re not wrong with the nutcase but, but the absolute frenzy whipped up on social and mainstream media, baying for the blood of any teacher who dares suggest anything other than schools should be open as they are has been deeply, deeply unhelpful.